meet the founder
Dr. Ryan derousselle
Dr. Ryan DeRousselle has committed more than 10 years to public education in New Orleans as a teacher and school administrator. Dr. DeRousselle’s professional tenure includes experiences as an Executive Director of School Quality at Lake Forest Charter School, a national Blue Ribbon school, a Director of Student Support Services at Community Academies of New Orleans, with Special Education Leadership positions at McDonogh 35, Morris Jeff Community School, and Jefferson Parish Public Schools. Because of his devout commitment to mentoring and shaping our world’s greatest assets - our youth - Dr. DeRousselle founded SAVETHEYOUTH Nola. SAVETHEYOUTH Nola is an organization led by teachers for students, to cultivate self-awareness and empowerment through mentorship, academic support, and community outreach.
Dr. DeRousselle, a New Orleans native, earned a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and a Master’s in Educational Leadership from Xavier University. He also earned a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Xavier University, in which his research examined co-teaching influences on the first-year teaching practices of special educators trained in a university-based teacher residency program. Dr. DeRousselle holds certifications in both Elementary Education and Educational Leadership.
Ryan's vision
I choose to respond to our fatherless generation because I was fatherless. As a child, I never knew what it felt like to be given affirmation- the confirming notion that we can overcome. I see myself in all of my underprivileged black students. I see their struggle because I have been there. I see their hurt because I have experienced their pain. I "was" fatherless.
I attribute the majority of my success in life to a teacher that believed in me as a student. He instilled a sense of worth that gave me the desire to build a future that was better than the present I was born into. He gave me momentum and modeled the power of affirmation. I know and have experienced how a single person can change a child’s life because that child was me.
Save the Youth exists to give our recipients confidence, inspire them to choose wisdom, and build character. When we choose this approach it is a reminder of the power of affirmation while Save the Youth is a response to offer momentum to overcome. We make the path by walking it.
